A. O. Smith Corporation $AOS Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC cut its position in A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 284,138 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 27,875 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in A. O. Smith were worth $16,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 5,521.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 489,264 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,687,000 after acquiring an additional 480,561 shares during the period. ING Groep NV bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth about $980,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in A. O. Smith during the second quarter worth about $14,082,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 3,618.1% in the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 117,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,740,000 after purchasing an additional 114,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in A. O. Smith in the 4th quarter valued at about $97,101,000. 76.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A. O. Smith Price Performance

Shares of A. O. Smith stock traded down $0.24 on Thursday, reaching $56.12. 627,705 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,564,464. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a PE ratio of 15.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.28 and its 200-day moving average is $60.91. A. O. Smith Corporation has a one year low of $54.16 and a one year high of $81.86.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.07. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.15% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $994.89 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. A. O. Smith has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.700-3.850 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Corporation will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 40.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AOS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Oppenheimer set a $75.00 price target on A. O. Smith and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of A. O. Smith in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on A. O. Smith from $76.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded A. O. Smith from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.75.

A. O. Smith Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation (NYSE:AOS) is a manufacturer of water heating and water treatment products for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. The company’s product portfolio includes electric and gas water heaters, boilers, storage tanks, heat pump water heaters, and related equipment and controls.

The company also provides water treatment solutions, including water softeners, filtration systems, and other products designed to improve water quality. Its products are marketed under the A.